


Happy Ending

by orphan_account



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-11-15
Updated: 2011-11-15
Packaged: 2017-10-26 02:49:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/277845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Xander likes stories with happy endings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Happy Ending

Happy Ending

Xander was very fond of stories, particularly those that had a happy ending.

His fascination started when he was just five years of age. He would curl up on his mother's lap, her gentle hands stroking his hair while she read out loud to him. It was the only time she would ever truly pay attention to him. When she read to him Xander would close his eyes and pretend he himself was inside the stories, playing the part of one of the characters. Especially if he was the hero.

Sometimes he dreamed up his own stories, ones where both he and his mother starred and he would rescue her from the clutches of evil monsters, and they would live happily ever after.

At the age of seven he had started to read by himself regularly. While he enjoyed his stories, he missed the contact of having someone sit with him and hold him. He asked his father to read to him once, something he very much regretted afterwards. He didn't understand his father's reluctance however, he was pretty sure that reading was a lot more fun than drinking and shouting all of the time, wasn't it?

By the age of 10 Xander had started to write his own stories, something he was very proud of! In every story he wrote he became the main character, and every story ended happily. He decided that this was even better than reading as he got the satisfaction of seeing his dreams written down on paper, this made it almost seem as if they had come true. He already knew that this was a slightly delusional way of looking at things, but he hadn't lost hope yet. He read a story to his father once, but that elicited an even more horrible reaction than the last time. Xander's father often reminds him these days that writing is for 'sissies'. So Xander had to learn to hide his hobby.

Sometimes, at night when his father was asleep, Xander would read his stories out loud and pretend his mother was listening.

Many years passed, and then a sixteen year old Xander found himself staring at a computer screen reading about role play games. He still wrote his stories sometimes, but he'd given up on reading them at night to a memory of his mother. He told himself it was pathetic and he was old enough to know better now. A couple of years later he had become quite the expert at the games, yet he still wasn't satisfied.

Soon he befriended a vampire slayer, her watcher and a witch. He dubbed them the 'Scooby gang'. To him, it was sort of like one of his stories coming to life, but without the happy endings exactly. Although they did often walk away victorious (evidence of their victory often covering them from head to toe). The rest of his life seem to pass by him in a blur.

He had trouble with his love life; his relationships never lasted. He finally decided that he was doomed to be alone forever and stopped looking for love.

At the age of 35 he became ill, seriously ill. His friends came to visit him as much as they could, but they all had their own lives now and apocalypses to stop.

One day he woke up and heard someone moving in the room he was in. He turned his head towards the course of the noise and saw that it was Spike. "Fangless" said Xander in acknowledgement; "Whelp" said Spike in return. Spike informed him that the gang had sent him over to keep an eye on him while they were away. They threw a few insults at each other, as usual. Then they looked at each other and smiled. Spike settled himself into the chair by the bed and they sat there in silence for a while, but it was nice. Comforting even.

Xander felt weak, very weak, and oh so tired. He knew he didn't have long. This was it.

"Hey... Spike?" said Xander towards the bleached vampire. "Hmm?" was the reply given.

"Would you...read to me?" He asked as he indicated the book on the shelf above the bed.

Spike hesitated for a moment as he seemed to be internally debating something with himself, and then he pushed himself up from the chair and retrieved the book, glancing briefly at the cover. He started to go back to his chair.

"Could...could you sit here?" asked Xander tentatively.

It was so quiet that Spike barely heard it. He looked inquisitively at Xander, and saw the pleading and embarrassment in the man's eyes. Without a word Spike went and sat down on the bed next to him.

Spike opened the book and after he had turned to the first page he started to read aloud from it. Xander smiled and closed his eyes so he could enjoy the moment. A while later he found himself laying in Spike's arms, one of the vampire's hands stroking his hair and the other holding the book as Spike read to him softly. Xander felt a warmness spread through him; he let out a contented sigh and closed his eyes again. This was the feeling he had been missing, and with his eyes closed he could almost imagine he was a little boy again and was being read story and held by his mother.

Spike continued to read until he noticed that Xander had gone very still. He stared at the sight of the man lying in his arms and could no longer hear him breathing. He put the book down, brushed a lone tear from Xander's face and kissed his forehead gently. A teardrop of his own fell softly onto Xander's face.

"Goodbye...Xander."

He got up gently, crossed the room and was halfway through the door when he looked back. It was then that he noticed that Xander had a small smile on his face, something he hadn't seen in a long while. Spike smiled sadly in return and turned the light off and closed the door.

 _The boy was finally at peace._

 _Fin_


End file.
